HP Newsletter - Hospice Pharmacia

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6 Passionate for the Appropriate Use of Medication HP Continues to Enhance Quality While Adding Opportunities for Savings Streamlined Performance Incentive Program, Added Discount on AWP for Medications Outside of Protocol, and the Lowest Annual Price Adjustment Ever - Calvin H. Knowlton, RPh, MDiv., PhD, CEO Hospice Pharmacia is very pleased to announce an enhanced and simplified Performance Incentive Program (PIP), effective October 1, 2005, simultaneous with the launch of the new edition (VII) of the Medication Use Guidelines. There are two components to this new PIP, which will be assessed each month and automatically applied to your monthly statement. 1. Earn a 0.50% discount for having 85% of your home care patients assessed for ComfortPaks. 2. Earn a 0.75% discount for having a functional interface between your software and HP’s Xeris software. A functional interface means either an FTP or HL7 interface whereby >75% of your referrals/admissions are communicated successfully via the electronic interface. We have removed the PIN, outcomes reporting, and automated refills performance benchmarks as we have found the reporting functionality, especially reporting by nurse, is already a great incentive for hospices to encourage their staff to use their PIN. The automated refill system will become much easier with the introduction of voice to text technology (targeted for 4q05) where the nurse may say the patient’s phone number, the PIN, and the refill number, instead of having to use the telephone key pad. Additionally, with the recent merger, wherein excelleRx became a division of Omnicare, we are able to take advantage of enhanced purchasing power on medications that were traditionally low volume for our organization—basically the non-MUG medications. Therefore, also effective October 1, 2005, we will be reducing the medication price on our non-MUG medications. Certainly, this is not to encourage the use of non-MUGs! HP’s per diems are set based upon a hospice’s percentage of patients with cancer (vs. noncancer) diagnoses. We have very specific and detailed information correlating increased HP encounters and medication mix with higher cancer rates. While we monitor this information on a quarterly basis, this year has been significant in that dozens of our hospices have received a per diem reduction letter from HP because their cancer rate has dropped to a lower bracket for two consecutive quarters (e.g., from 45% to 35%). Finally, every October is when most of our hospice clients receive an annual per diem price adjustment. This October will be the lowest price adjustment in HP’s nine year history—less than half of the 4.4% Producer Price Index for Opioids (which is what we use as our upper threshold each year). Specifically, the HP per diem will increase less than 2%, effective October 1, 2005. Because AWP (Average Wholesale Price) is adjusted by pharmaceutical manufacturers, hospices are left without any controls on drug pricing in the fee-for-service environment. HP’s documented ability to help hospices control costs is exemplary considering the continued double-digit pharmacy increases experienced in the healthcare industry today. So, in addition to our system for Prospective Medication Therapy Management, our new economies of scale are helping to hold down your total pharmacy costs! “I appreciate all that hospice pharmacia does for us. I have been involved in hospice care for six years and I think that Hospice Pharmacia does a wonderful job helping the nursing staff to understand what can sometimes make us feel so lost. Many thanks.” Partnering Hospice Nurse August, 2005 www.hospicepharmacia.com
Passionate for the Appropriate Use of Medication 7 Research Update - Terri Maxwell, RN, PhD(c) Clinical Pharmacology via Xeris As you may have read in our last newsletter, HP has entered into a partnership with Gold Standard Multi-Media. The outcome of this partnership is that Clinical Pharmacology is now available through a special subscription to Xeris users! Hospice Pharmacia partners can enjoy a 90-day free trial, that began August 1, 2005. With several studies underway, and several in the pipeline, there is a lot happening in the Research Department. Current study topics include: • Examining patient response to long-acting opioids measured on a 0-10 pain rating scale; • Testing and evaluating our “Patient Reported Outcomes Measures” (PROM) system that uses innovative IVR technology; • Evaluating the effects of prospective medication therapy management on patient hospitalizations and after-hours nursing visits in hospice; • Evaluating factors that predispose hospice patients to experiencing a fall; and • Describing groups of hospice patients: pediatric patients, patients with heart failure, and patients with dementia. We look forward to sharing the findings from these studies in upcoming newsletters. After the trial period, hospice partners may continue their access through a discount program that translates to a savings of up to 75% for any hospice with greater than four users! Clinical Pharmacology provides the most up to date and accurate drug information available, and features: • Medication Monographs • Therapeutic Class Overviews • Search Capabilities (for medications by brand/generic, indication, therapeutic classification, contraindication, adverse reaction) • Drug Interaction Reports • Adverse Reaction Reports • Product Identification • Patient Education Founded in 1993, Gold Standard is a leading developer of drug information databases, software, and clinical information solutions. HP is pleased to be able to provide you with even more resources to facilitate the best possible patient care. For more information on this special offering, email HPPartners@excelleRx.com. Calling All Hospice Medical Directors and Clinical Research Staff: JOIN US FOR A RESEARCH TELECONFERENCE! Title: Building the Evidence Base for Hospice Symptom Management: A Research Teleconference for Hospice Medical Directors and Clinicians Date: Monday, October 24, 2005 Time: 12 pm-1 pm EDT Objectives: • Identify gaps in the evidence base for common symptoms experienced at the end of life. • Discuss challenges associated with documentation of outcomes in hospice. • Describe findings from recent investigations related to symptom control, epidemiology, and medication selection in hospice. Facilitator: Richard Stefanacci DO, MGH, MBA, AGSF, CMD, Executive Director, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Health Policy Institute www.hospicepharmacia.com
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HP Newsletter - Hospice Pharmacia

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